Stanger
An English surname most likely from a pole-maker or thatcher, though some sources also suggest a local place-name origin.
The #8,878 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 83,716 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Most historical surname writers connect Stanger with an occupational nickname. One explanation derives it from a word for a pole or stake, with the agent suffix meaning someone who works with poles or stakes; related writers gloss it as a thatcher in northern English speech. A second, older suggestion is that it may come from a word meaning a pond or pool, or from a local place-name based on that element, but this is less certain.
History
The name is recorded in several English counties and appears in historic registers from at least the 16th century. 19th-century surname dictionaries disagree somewhat on the exact root, but they generally treat it as English in origin, with a strong northern occupational sense. It is also found in Scots and in emigrant records in North America.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some older writers linked Stanger to the same root as words for a pole or stake, which fits the surname’s traditional “pole-maker” explanation.
From the historical record
“Essex, Notts, Sussex, &c. STANGER. 1. Athatcher. North. 2. From 0. Fr. cstang (stagnum) a pond. In the same manner as Lake produced Laker, and Pond gave rise to Fonder, stang may have originated Stauger. STANGMAR. An ancient Scandinavian baptismal name. STANHOPE. The first recorded ancestor of this knightly and…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom